


Day 14: Bonfire/Fireplace

by AQ110



Series: Klancetober [14]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Bonfires, First Meetings, Fluff, M/M, Summer Camp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-23
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-08-06 13:40:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16388762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AQ110/pseuds/AQ110
Summary: Keith is dropped off at a summer camp for the entire summer. While he expects the worst, maybe the best just might happen.Part 14 of 31 for @ikimaru's (Instagram) Klancetober!Each part has a chance to have another chapter or a full fledged story afterwords, so please leave a comment if you want more and I will have regular updates once October ends!





	Day 14: Bonfire/Fireplace

**Day 14: Bonfire/Fireplace**

 

The last old school bus came to a rocky stop on the dirt path of Altea Summer Camp. It was one of the largest and most popular summer camps in the United States, bringing in people from all over the world. 102 acres of activities and free range to do what you want. (Considering it was mostly geared towards teens)

Keith was the last one to step out of the yellow menace before it drove back to civilization. Even though he was staying the whole summer, the only thing he had with him was a single duffel bag and a small backpack. Looking around at the people he would be living with for these three months, Keith could tell that this was going to be a long,  _ long,  _ summer.

“Alright everyone!” An older man with bright orange hair and a crazy mustache called. “Let’s gather in the dining hall to discus the essentials for this summer!”

With grumbles and cheers mixed together in a symphony of teenagers, they steadily filtered themselves into the large wooden building. Chairs were already placed facing towards the large stage at one end of the room. Keith sat in the last row at the far corner, observing the others that sat down in front of him. Everyone just seemed too chipper considering they were shipped off to the middle of nowhere just as he was. Why were they happy to be stuck here? Sure this place had a good, hell, a  _ great _ reputation, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it was from brainwashing.

“Greetings everyone!” the man from before spoke into the mic, quieting almost everyone aside from small chatter. “I’m Coran and I will be one of the boys village counselors and in charge of crafts and stories! I look forward to a great week with you all!”

With a wave and a dramatic bow, Coran side-stepped and let another man take the mic. He looked younger than the other but he still had an adult-like air around him. His left arm was a metal prosthetic and there was a scar across his nose. Whatever his story was, it was obvious that he had been through a lot before ending up here.

“My name is Shirogane, but you can just call me Shiro. I will be the second boys village counselor and I will be in charge of outdoor sports. I look forward to getting to know you this week.”

Now a girl stood up. She had dark skin but long,  _ very  _ long, white hair and bright blue eyes. When she spoke, she had a British accent just like Coran.

“I’m Allura. I will be a counselor in girls village and a lifeguard down at the waterfront. Let’s make this summer the best one yet!”

Lastly was another female. She had a serious demeanor and, objectively, was pretty scary looking. She was tall, hunched over with tattoos running down her face in angry bold lines to her shoulders. The air about her seemed to demand respect, but her expression showed that she couldn’t care less.

“I am Honerva. Girls counselor and in charge of the science room.”

As she walked of the stage with the stride of a solider, Coran hesitantly walked up to the mic and adjusted it back to his height. “Well, those are all our main counselors! But don’t forget our lovely volunteers that will be all over the camp!” Cheers wafted through the crowd in appreciation of all the teens, young adults, and elders in the light purple shirts around the room. 

The orange haired man began to go over the rules. Honestly, it was all common sense. The rules were basically be a decent human being and you will be left to do what you want. Keith could handle that.

“Now as for sleeping arrangements, boys will be in boys village and girls will be in girls village. If there are any issues with that, please talk to one of us before you head out. We have other camping spots, those two are just the biggest.” Coran nodded appreciatively. “Now, cabins can hold up to four people comfortably, but you can fit more if you wish. But you can also have the cabin to yourself.

Now I’m sure that you are all excited to settle in, dinner is at six and we are having a bonfire afterwards. You’re not required to attend, but we’re roasting marshmallows and telling stories for all who want to join!

Now go have fun! I can’t wait for a wonderful week!”

As steady chatter began to fill the mess hall, Keith sprung up from his seat and jogged out of the building before anyone even had a chance to even grab all of their bags. What could he say? He wasn’t exactly  _ thrilled _ to be here but if he could get an entire cabin to himself, well that was the dream wasn’t it?

Following the wooden sighs Keith made his way down a rocky path and down a hill to basically a  _ town  _ of cabins. There seemed to be enough to fit everyone in camp at just this one section. Off to the side was a bath house, and the Korean assumed that there would be another one at the other end of the rows of cabins. Every four cabins there was a small fire pit for the boys village to share.

He went to the back of the rows of cabins and chose the last one, closest to the second bathhouse that Keith had been right about it being there. The short male stood on the wooden porch that didn’t even creak under him. It was surprisingly sturdy and Keith found himself grateful that at least his ‘parents’ didn’t send him to some sort of death trap.

On a small table next to the door was a plastic basket with different cards to hang on the door handle of his temporary home. There was a blue one that said ‘2 people’ on it, a red one that said ‘3 people’, a purple one that said ‘4 people’, a orange one that said ‘5+ people’, and a black one, which Keith took and put on his door handle that said ‘Single person’.

Entering the cabin, that had an actual door with a handle and lock and  _ everything _ , Keith dropped his luggage at the entrance way and placed the box of leftover door signs gently on top so it wouldn’t fall over and spill. There was no reason to mess up the place he was going to live in, expectantly on the first day.

 

As the blue and white colors of the sky faded into an orange and pink mix, Keith found himself walking up to the mess hall. He didn’t really want to go, almost everyone would be there and Keith wasn’t exactly what one would call ‘social’. But he was getting hungry in his cabin and the Korean figured that if he went towards the  _ end  _ of dinner, fewer people would be crowding the wooden building.

Once the black haired boy stepped through the doors, he realized very quickly that he was wrong. All things considered, the building was pretty sound proof. He wasn’t even able to hear the ruckus going on inside until he opened the door.

He was met with lights that had an orange glow, lighting up the room enough to see, but not enough to hurt your eyes. The smell of fried food filled his nose and made his mouth water. Laughter and overall chatter came from the completely full seats, voices echoing off of the walls and bouncing around the large room.

Keith wouldn’t deny that he almost left right then and there. It was almost too much to walk into, and there seemed to be few seats open. But the tug in his stomach lead his body to the display of food without him even realizing it until he had a plate in his hand. He grabbed simple foods, just some chicken, fries, grapes, and a small coffee.

When everything was neatly stacked on his tray, he realized that there were no open tables. Any open seats were with groups of people. It might honestly be safer to eat in the bathrooms and to pretend he was never there at the start.

Red converse made their way to the staircase that lead downstairs to the bathroom and the art room. Before he could take the first step, a tanned skinned man stepped into his line of sight with a smile. Now, Keith would never admit this, but it startled him a bit, sending him stumbling back a few steps.

“Hi!” he said enthusiastically, confusing Keith more. Did he know him?

“Hi?”

“There aren’t any seats left, right? Come sit with us!”

“Oh...uh, that’s okay.” the mullet haired boy tried to decline.

“Yup! It is okay!”

The blue eyed boy tugged his arm away from the staircase and directly to the middle of the chaos. In the middle was a circular table which currently sat two people and a book bag. One was a short girl with a green shirt and her cellphone out. The other was a larger built man with a yellow shirt, orange bandanna and a large plate of food.

The boy in the plain blue shirt, the one who was leading him to the table, sat him down next to the plaid book bag with a half empty lunch tray sitting patiently on the table in front of it. The tan boy plopped down in that seat and smiled, blue eyes seeming to shine.

“He catch you too?” the short girl asked with a huff, but there was a playful look in her eyes.

“Uh, yeah. He did actually.”

The one in yellow laughed. “Sorry for my friend you two, he seemed determined for...some reason. He wouldn’t tell me.”

Said boy huffed with a pout and crossed his arms. “I just want to make the ultimate friend group!”

“Meaning…?” questioned the green one.

“ _ Meaning _ I want us to be the friends that everyone else is always envious of, y’know?”

“So you want to be popular?” Keith questioned with a raised eyebrow. Because if so, this little group certainly wouldn’t be for him.

“No, no, no. Quite the opposite! Think of teen movies. The popular kids always get what they want and look cool or whatever. But in reality their little friend group if falling apart. But on the  _ other hand _ , there’s the group of friends who are really close and help each other out. I want us to be like that!”

“And you chose us? Why?”

“You stuck out to me?”

That got Keith to pause. Stuck out? That was one of the few things people didn’t use to describe him. He tried to stay in the background, away from others. And what reputation he did create for himself was negative. Usually fights or a temper. But as far as he could tell, no one here knew him.

“Anyway-” he continued, not noticing Keith’s internal conflict with himself “the name’s Lance. I’m here all summer because my family lives in Cuba, and my favorite food is garlic knots!”

Hunk laughed and spoke up next. “You’re just  _ now  _ introducing yourself? Well, I’m Hunk. I will also be here all summer, but my family actually lives in Hawaii. I’ve been friends with Lance since we met here last summer, and I love cooking! Sometimes I even help the cook.”

The table was quiet, the small green one making eye contact with Keith across the table before sighing, realizing he wasn’t going to go first. “My names Katie, but you guys can call me Pidge. I’m going to be here all summer because my parents don’t want me staying cooped up in our home lab all summer.” she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, but there was a small smile on her lips. “I love anything techie and I’m currently working on building a robot. I can show you guys later.”

The table went quiet before the Korean noticed that three pairs of eyes were on him, expecting him to speak. “Oh, uh… My name’s Keith. I will  _ also  _ be here all summer.” he didn’t bother telling them why, the mood was good. No need to burn these barely built bridges already...right? “I built my own motorcycle with scrap parts I found.”

“Wow.” the blue eyed boy gasped when everyone finished. “Look at that! This  _ must  _ be fate. We’re all going to be here all summer. We’ll be  _ inseparable  _ by the end of summer.”

Keith doubted it. He gave this little group of theirs a week. Maybe the three of them would stick it out longer, but soon enough they would realize that Keith didn’t fit in with their flow. They would slowly stop inviting him to hang out. Then he would be left out of more conversations. Soon, he would be a distant, vague memory in the back of their minds. By the same time next year, he would be gone.

The loud ringing of the microphone turning on startled everyone into a silence. On stage was Coran with a gleaming smile and bright eyes. “As you can all see, the sky is now dark! Those of you who want to go to the campfire, we will start in 10 minutes. Those who wish to do other things, make sure you’re in your village by midnight.” Just as fast as the orange man appeared, he was gone.

Keith stood up from the table to leave, tray thrown away a while ago. There was no point in going down there when he could just wander off. Sure it sounded  _ kinda _ cool. Seeing the stars with a fire warming the area around it like a blanket. But he could technically do that at the village too, right?

A tan arm attached to a blue shirt wrapped around his own, making him stop before he even started walking. Keith glanced up at Lance with a curious raise of his eyebrow.

“What? You’re warm.” He defended himself with an awkward shrug as he began pulling Keith after Hunk and Pidge to where Coran had left moments ago. “Even with the fire it’s going to be cold out.”

The Korean didn’t stop him. He didn’t object to the idea of going with everyone. He didn’t pull his arm free. And he most  _ certainly  _ wasn’t going to disappoint the first person to talk to him so early on.

 

_ At the end of the night, Keith found himself sitting against a log, Lance half asleep on one shoulder, Pidge awake on the other, with the fire keeping them a gentle warm. The stars seemed brighter to Keith when he heard Hunk laugh at one of Coran’s stories, eating his fourth s’more of the night. Maybe this summer wouldn’t be so bad after all. _


End file.
